Treasures
by Steampoweredbunny
Summary: No matter how aggressive, even monsters had soft sides. Very short oneshot of Zabuza's compassion for Haku.


**This is the shittiest thing I have ever written. _Maybe _aside from when I first started writing in middle school, and aside from the papers and such I bullshit for classes. =u=; But I personally enjoy it, and though some people may not like the way I wrote it (i.e. the constant periods and new sentences) I really wanted to share it with the world~! Review your thoughts!  
**

* * *

Monsters were never careful with their things. Often, they were left broken, torn, worn-out to the point where there was no hope of restoring it to its once stable stature. And the worst part? Monsters didn't care. Things would be discarded, replaced with something new, and the process would go on.

There _were _no emotional attachments.

There _was _no care being taken when he dealt with his things, regardless of whether or not those things were other people.

Handling people was the worst. He didn't know how to talk to them compassionately, how to handle them with care. Abuse was all he knew.

Then a small child came along. And when Zabuza came across him, even he didn't have the heart to cast him back out into the cold world to his inevitable death. So he cared for him, watched the small bud with enchanting eyes bloom into something beautiful.

All through the years, Haku became the one to care for him, to tend to his wounds and cook when they were stuck camping out in the wild.

As he grew, Zabuza felt his heart soften, the bitter ice encasing it slowly melting away. And for the first time, he felt the organ beating within his chest.

* * *

Women came and went. Brothels provided him with what he wanted, when he wanted. All wanted nothing to do with him, but the strange attractions and mass amounts of money pulled them in. So he toyed with the beings as he wished. Left them bruised and broken, as he had left everything else. But never once had he imagined using the boy he once cared for as a child for what he craved.

Not until the night the two rogues found themselves taking shelter in an old, abandoned home out in the middle of nowhere. No towns close enough to get to without collapsing from exhaustion and untended wounds, no baths, no food, a leaking, small building, heavy rain. Both had taken refuge on their respected sides of the room; Haku spread out on the floor so that Zabuza could have the bed. Both practically nude, soaked clothes hanging in the driest spot of the house to be drained of water.

For a while, all Zabuza could do was watch the younger being. Body, covered in moon-pale flesh that looked silken to the touch, rising with small breaths. The way he spread out much the way a woman would, an arm draped along his side and lifted a bit from that slight curve of his hip. Oh, he couldn't help himself. Not when he crossed the room to kneel by the lithe, strong frame. Not when he explored the body with calloused hands and a dark gaze. Not even when Haku turned onto his back to look the older man in the eye; his gaze ever inviting and accepting. Haku always looked so frail, much like most of the women Zabuza had broken. As though the simplest touch could shatter him like a rock through a sheet of the ice that he often toyed with. So Zabuza kept the thoughts of breaking the poor boy in mind. And it was that same night that the demon rogue had found it in himself to be gentle with what he touched.

The next day, the next week, and from then on, acts of affection that no other living creature was to witness were exchanged. Stolen kisses while wounds were patched. Bodies pressed together under a single blanket on cold nights. Shared baths when the hot water was limited.

And though the rogue never really did let go of his habitual visits to brothels, Haku was the only to feel the tender strokes along his skin. The closed-mouth kisses against his neck. The careful movements forcing Zabuza's body to rock against his own.

Because playthings were for play, and treasures were to be treasured.


End file.
